Children’s clothing retailer Gymboree, which has multiple locations in the San Fernando Valley, is shuttering its stores.

Gymboree Group announced it will begin closing all of its 798 Gymboree and Crazy 8 branded stores in the U.S. and Canada, according to a recent bankruptcy filing.

The company said that “the unanticipated degree of decline of the brick-and-mortar retail industry, among other factors, has made it increasingly difficult for the debtors to support their cost and capital structure,” according to the company’s bankruptcy filing.

It was the second time the San Francisco-based company filed for bankruptcy in about two years.

Gymboree acknowledged it was losing to competitors like Children’s Place, The Gap and Carters.

The announcement follows the news of the closing of other flagship brands, including Payless ShoeSource and Toys R Us, both with also were sprinkled through the Valley. (Earlier this month, reports said a group of former Toys R Us executives were trying to revive the business).

Gymboree and Crazy 8 have multiple locations in the Valley, including Encino, Sherman Oaks, Glendale, Valencia and Northridge. The stores will remain open until April.

The company’s 147 more upscale brand Janie and Jack stores will be for sale on bankruptcy court auction. It’s unclear if the stores will remain open.

Meanwhile, 534 stores with the Gymboree name are expected to close along with 264 Crazy 8 shops. The company employs about 11,000 part-time and full-time workers.

Anna Kostanyan, a 33-year-old mother of four children and resident of Tujunga, was shopping at Gymboree in Glendale on a recent afternoon during the store’s liquidation sale, which offered up to 50 percent discounts on children’s clothing.

“I’m sad the store is closing,” she said. “I don’t know where I’m going to shop now. I’m probably going to shop online, but I don’t like it. I prefer to touch the clothes before buying it.”

Olga Grigoryants is a multimedia reporter focusing on urban development, business and culture. She also supports the paper in its watchdog role to hold San Fernando Valley power players accountable and loves digging for public records. After studying writing in Moscow, she moved to Los Angeles in 2007 and has called it home ever since. She earned her master’s degree from the USC Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism, and has published articles with Reuters, Bloomberg, the Los Angeles Business Journal and LA Weekly. Along the way, she picked up awards from the Los Angeles Press Club and Society of Professional Journalists. If you want to get on her bright side, she loves a perfect cup of matcha latte.

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